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Sam: I agree with you. People are always studying things and coming up with obvious answers. Why are we broke? Duh. Studies like these! Hey, did you see Corey and Sophie on Friends of Chet yesterday? They are almost as cute as you. How’s your girl?

Mama says we can be in charge of saying hello today. She has her hands full of clay and can’t type. But she’s humming and she sure is in a good mood, so we think clay does to her what catnip does to us.
We’ll check back tonight to see how AJ is doing, if Melanie is feeling better and if Mighty Kirby has checked in.
Also – has anyone heard from Liz?
BBL

The race says it is going to have “spot” live tracking. I don’t know what that is, but if you click on live tracking a map comes up that looks like a shorter version of all GPS tracking maps that I have seen.

Thanks Masquers, You are making me sleepy. Maybe a nap before race time is called for.

I’m looking forward to the race. I have found the live tracking and it looks great. If you click on AJ’s or Jeremy’s names their icons bounce up and down.

If my sister doesn’t pick up Dan’s iPad, I think I’ll use that to watch what’s going on. Then I don’t have to get up.

Dan called with news. He started getting very specific about health issues and I kept saying “no details, no details,” When he got to the prune juice cocktail, I finally just told him that wasn’t something that I didn’t want to hear about. He finally stopped.

Whew, Zoë has taken 1/2 the Pack up to the camp. The others are pouting here with me. Not too sorry for them, they got to go yesterday.

Siber-H: That is very thoughtful of you, but I think you should keep tthe chews for yourself. Maybe I can take a page out of Rio’s book and chew on a pillow like he does when the Rockies play. Now, if you want to blurr over for a tummy and ear scritch, I’d be happy to welcome you. I’m missing the dogs.

Snowhook Bella: This is just a fun training run, right? No pressure. If it was only 50 miles would your stomach still be in knots?
No cheesecake, but I’m having latkes! Yummy! 3 potatoes sure goes a looong way. Thanks to Wookie’s mom for her delish recipe.

Dawson: You are correct. Because he will have some inexperienced dogs on the team, he is going to take it easy, rest a lot and focus on having fun. If it were a short race, my stomach would be in a slip knot rather than a sailor’s knot. During Iditarod, my stomach is tied in a neverending tangle of Christmas tree lights.

B.Stover: In To The Lighthouse there was a reference to a children’s story called the Fisherman’s Wife. I google it to see what it was about and got a modern version of that story starring Sarah Palin. It was hilarious.
There was also a reference to Boeuf en Daube which I googled and am looking forward to making one day.

Man ‘o man! Sam is right. Another BRILLIANT Scientific Study.
The Duh Factor:
Animals can read human expressions and understand words, open doors, do yoga, cuddle, enjoy sports, watch tv (to name a few)
Yuk to plastic surgery (what the hey?) not our choice!
The most interesting thing about the Huff Post article was the videos – so not a complete waste.

Siber-H: I’m trying to figure out how to navigate this tracker, too. It’s different than the Iditarod’s GPS tracker. AJs official start time will be half past the hour and Jeremy’s will be four minutes before AJ leaves.

It looks like the tracker is now showing that some teams are on the trail whereas is didn’t seem so a few minutes ago. Siber-H is correct, it looks like we will need to hit the refresh location button at the bottom of the tracker page.

I just discovered, and I may be behind the times, but if you hit on the magnifying glass next to AJs (and Handler Jeremy’s) name it will show you their stats for the entire race.

Handler Jeremy should be on the trail, and AJ should be making his way to the starting line as I type.

Siber-H: This is a far cry from waiting for race updates that are call in by radio. It’s new, but I’m glad to have it. The tracker currently shows AJ in 6th place. I believe there are quite a few hills in this race which means AJ will be doing a lot of running.

More to Siber-H, race expert: If you know where to look you can see our property with the satellite version.

SIber-H: The back end of Junior never stops waving, yet Luna takes a dignified, Patsy-esque approach to life. Belle Starr is a wild card, but it you see something sparkle at you it probably means she is up to something—no good.

Dawson: I love your description of Mr. Ramsay’s honesty as “brutal.” I’m doing further research on woman’s education (or lack thereof) at the university level (Mrs. Ramsay calls her mind “untrained”)in Victorian England in order to write about it on my blog. I’m going to use some of your comments and my responses in the essay. Fun!

The Fisherman’s tale is from the Brothers Grimm. Here’s a link to it in case you didn’t find it. The wife is portrayed as greedy and grasping.

Mom finally got done her ride. We have 3 pages up. One is the tracker with all the mushers and our guys jumping up and down, and the other pages are of each of our guys on the map with all their stats (speed, miles, etc)

Howlers: I’m still at my parents’ house. I changed my flight plans to head home on Tuesday because AJ would be on the trail today and tomorrow—I was supposed to head home today. It would be dangerous to have him, unrested and exhausted, drive 70+ miles to pick me up on the heels of finishing a race. Coach knows what to expect with my race watching habits, but I fear it is an eye opener for Bev. She’s already asked me twice what kind of cheesecake I like. She gave me an all day lollipop that was cheesecake flavored—gone!

So strange to see them racing in cold and snow when it was in the 60s here today with a mild, almost tropical breeze! Mom is in heaven saying horse training season has begun! Boy is she in for a rude awakening when more seasonal temps return. Heh heh

Siber-H: I’m trying to figure out how the updates work. Different than Iditarod’s GPS tracker which automatically updates every 15 minutes, this seems to update sporadically. Perhaps it updates when a team hits a certain point in the race?

Mom is ecstatic that her mare, so out of control the past few months, was perfect under saddle and now seems like a completely different, calm, well-behaved horse. Mom says she just must have been missing the work. Our brains can’t handle that one.
The best part is that Kat was completely indifferent to Mom loungeing and then riding Annie.

Howlers: I wish I knew if W.L. was on the trail. AJ and I never connected last night so I could ask about the line up. I am fairly certain that Charlie and Orion as well as Annabelle, Rory, Twig, Quig and Elim are out there somewhere not being updated on the tracker. Grump.

Race!…How come Lance Mackey always has to be in front…grunt! …Finally, I am able to get on this old computer and “watch” AJ the Giant race!…snort!….He seems to be in the middle of the pack, doesn’t he?…wuffle!…His location updated on our screen…grunt!…He’s going over 8 miles an hour. I though he was going to take it slow and easy…heh!heh! ….WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

B: In answer to your question of last night: We liked all three Swedish film versions of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy.
Bella: Thank you for your offer to borrow the books. Mom has the first book here which she plans to read soon.

Shame!….Beau has brought shame to my friend…sniff!… He almost took one groomers finger off…yeep!… It took two of them to hold the little guy. They had to do the ole towel around the neck to keep him from biting someone else while they shampooed him…heh!…The gal who got bit told my friend that she has never seen that kind of behavior from a Pug. She says Pugs are usually very easy-going, and she wondered if my friend had gotten him from the humane society…chuffle!… On the bright side he looks really shiny and clean. They even got the caked on snot off of his nose…chorkel!…They agreed to let him come back but next time they will know what to expect and have two groomers available to work on him….wheeze!…I have to say I am pretty impressed myself….heh!

Rebecca and anyone else on an iPaw or smart phone, this tracker has a mobi app that seems to update much more often! Go to main tracker and then Event coverage…main tracker
Or just use this url http://www.knik200sleddograce.com/live-tracking.html
And click on the blue words about Follow on Smart Phone.
/

Howlers: To answer your question: barely. I don’t eat except for cheesecake. I don’t sleep except for a few stolen hours every couple of days, and Coach says my verbal communication quickly reduces to grunting. I try to write, and then I delete most of what I’ve written. Last year I had Chet’s to visit long after youse all signed off for the night. It’s not a pretty time. Coach insisted that I warn Rio’s friend that my humanness turns into a pumpkin during the race.

Rio: We have a very competitve streak, but AJ will run the dogs in this race as he has trained them this season.

RIo: If you are on the plot page you can go to the musher roster at the top of that page that is next to the map. You can either click on the magnifying glass for a quick ‘hello’ from the team or you can click on the name and it will bring you to a page dedicated to that musher; on that page it shows the mushers standing, average speed, elevation, etc. Then there is the fancy link that the Howlers found; I think that it only works with IPaws and IPhones. The information appears to differ depending on where you look—wuffle!

Just back from my first day at the busy place. Really just training. Got a SDD from Dawson and I am packing up the Carharts for a trip. Guess who wants to go along. I think I will have to explain about huskies to her….
Because I don’t think she has a clue…
BBL after I catch up with the blog and the race.

Bella: Just what we noticed too. Wondering why the stats are different on each page. No matter. It is great just to be able to follow along. What is the total miles and average time to finish the race?

Woooo!…. Thanks Rebecca!….snort!snort!….Now I understand the “Lake” comment from the Howlers….heh!…I can (hopefully) switch back and forth from this view to the group view….chuffle!…Hopefully this old computer will hang in there…grunt!

Project!…My friend wanted to finish her project tonight, but this is way more fun so she has joined me in following AJ and Team to Glory!…heh!…WOOOOOOO!

Rio: No problem. It took me a few minutes to figure it out and that was with the help of Siber-H and the Howlers.

Masquers: The race is 200 miles. It will likely finish late morning to late afternoon/early evening depending on the team. They will have a mandatory layover at one of the checkpoints before they can move on.

Rebecca, we have a very fundamental question. This race is against the clock, right? So the placing we see on the map is not necessarily the correct placing since they had staggered starts. Is that correct? So the first person thru the finish line might not be the winner…that never occurred to us before. Is this right?

And Siber, thanks for getting us hooked on the Iditarod. Mom never wanted to watch since Susan Butcher (sniff). We are so happy to have a team to root for now. We all just touched our Snowhook shadowbox with the booties that went to Nome and W-L’s chewed-up ID and AJ’s zipper pull. Hope that carries our good thoughts to Snowhook.

Dawson: The fancy Howler link shows AJ in 9th, but this hasn’t been updated for over an hour. Grump!

Melanie: The river is wide (I cannot cross over). We refer to them as highways, but they aren’t necessarily flat and smooth. There is a lot of snowmachine traffic on the river that ‘grooms’ it, yet there maybe small ‘hills’, areas of jumbled ice and overflow. Some dogs love to run on the river, like our retired leader, Bridger. Fargo, my main leader that passed last year got bored on rivers—give him hills, tight turns and an unknown trail any day.

Supper!…. I just got back down here after begging for Supper!…snort!… Has AJ and the Team wonnit?…sniff!…I need to Refresh and see where that Mackey guy is. His son, I think, is also in this race…heh!…So AJ has two butts to kick…snorkel!

I’m just checking in now, had a rough day, a bit like Beau, but with no biting. It was quite warm here, and as a result, I got bath-whacked (that’s a lot like getting bushwhacked except it involves a bath, not a bush). Not my favorite activity by any means.
But more important things. The race and all the tracking stuff is really cool, and special thanks to OH for finding the IPaw link. That works really well. Go AJ!
Wookie

Masquers: Before last night, the mushers were listed by the order that they signed up for the race. AJ and Jeremy were some of the last to sign up; there was a waiting list to enter the race. At the mushers meeting last night, they drew their bib number—I could by a name out of a hat, I’m not sure the format it took last night. For Iditarod, each musher will draw their starting order from a mukluk at the mushers banquet. Both Coach and my brother pointed out that AJ’s bib number, #15, is the same jersey they both wore when they played football.

Howlers: That is a good question. The times will be adjusted at the mandatory layover tonight and so the first team to cross the finish line is the winner.

We are watching different pagers/trackers and there is a discrepancy in places, even when the last updated time is the same. Very confusing. We just use the highest ranking we see for AJ and Jeremy and assume that is the correct one. 🙂

Knik to Yentna Station, 57 miles
The trail leaves Knik Lake westbound on the old Iditarod Trail, running across low, mostly wooded hills, open swamps, and a number of lakes. The trail crosses the Little Susitna River at the 18 mile point, then works over to Flathorn Lake across an area of level swamps and woods cut by a few sharp ravines (about 30 miles). After a couple more swamps and tree line, you’ll drop onto the Susitna River after 35 miles go north up the broad Susitna for a few miles and then swing up the wide Yentna River, the Susitna’s main tributary, for the last 17 miles to Yentna Station. This entire stretch of trail is very heavily used all winter and is often in very bad shape. There will be ruts, bumps, rough spots, and moguls meet lots of snowmachines, particularly on the river, some of rthem moving very fast and perhaps not as alert as they shold be because of the numerous parties along the trail.

Yentna Station to Skwentna (mile 90), 33 miles
From Yentna Station to Skwentna is all on the Yentna River, with the last few miles up the Skwentna River to the checkpoint. The river stays between well-defined banks for about five miles upstream from Yentna Station, and also for the last 15 miles into Skwentna. In the middle 15 miles it branches out into a maze of channels and sloughs, any of which can have a trail for local traffic. This is normally a fast run with no hills, provided the trail is in good shape.

Whitey-Lance is on the trail. I repeat, Whitey-Lance is on tge trail. I found the photo that Melanie post it of one of the teams at the starting line. W.L. is the silver and white dog on the left hand side of the photo.

B Stover: The answer is yes. Once the race starts, it doesn’t stop until the finish line. The team will rest along the trail—likely short breaks rather than extended stays for a race of this length. Once arriving at the layover, AJ will focus on feeding and watering the dogs, bedding them down, inspecting and massaging as efficiently as possible leaving the dogs the greatest amount of time to rest for an extended period. Depending on when he arrives at the layover checkpoint he will leave in the wee hours of the morning to head to the finish line. AJ is comfortable running in the dark.

Hi everyone – Mama has kinda kept up with everything with the race, even if her hands were too full of clay to type. She loves the refresh button on her notebook – that way she could just hit that with a carving tool, and catch up.

We are all so proud of AJ and the team, and wishing them well on the trail. Dad is going to be doing a special prayer for him with sage out under the (almost) full moon in just a little bit. Anyone who wants to join in – we will be in full prayer mode for a safe, happy and speedy run for the team in about a half hour – at the hour mark.

(we would do cheesecake, but we kinda overdid the calories during the holidays)

High!….Look how HIGH he is jumping!…snort!….How can any guy jump straight up with all four legs off the ground like that?….wheeze!….And look at his face. He doesn’t even have a strained look because of the effort….wow!

I joined in the prayer outside, wrapped in a coat that I gave Bev years ago. Toward the end of my prayer under the almost-full-moon-sky, the knot traveled from my stomach and constricted in my throat and then suddenly loosened its hold and left me feeling calm and still. Thank you.

Justin!…He will be fine and the team will be great!…snort!… I feel it in my Pug Heart tonight. He is safe and he knows exactly what he is doing…heh!…He is having a helluva good time!…WOOOOOOOOOWHEEEEE!

We went outside and stood beside a sage bush and said our prayer. Mom wore her Snowhook quilt, which she has become very attached to.
It is wonderful that we can all join in together although there are miles between us.

Testing!….heh!snort!heh!… No one in their right mind would let that digging fool test a prized Quilt…snort!… Heck, he can’t even be trusted to sniff a few stuffed huskies…chorkel!…Although, I do have to say in every other way he is a true pal and baseball fan!…heh!

Up! I am still up – heck it is still early-ish here….heh!… Beau is upstairs terrorizing her mother and trying to get on her Big Bed…snort!…Her mother does not want to let him up there because she knows she will never be able to physically get him off once he is On!….grunt!…That guy! He always messes up my serene evening hours for one reason or another…grumble!

Rio: The teams will make their way to the Skwentna checkpoint where they will have a six hour layover. Once their six hours is up they will hit the trail again. Some races have a indoor area for mushers to crash for the layover—the musher will only rest after they’ve cared for the dogs. Some races, the mushers will sleep at their dogs sleds at the checkpoint. In longer races, AJ will camp on the trail and sleep in the dog sled. The teams will have taken some breaks along the way to snack, relax, etc.

Skwentna!….Rebecca, do you know if AJ will be able to sleep inside tonight at this check-point?….sniff!…AJ and Team have not even reached this check-point yet, have they??…wuffle!…But they are strong and they will be there soon and in good form too!…Yes!

Rio: They have twenty-some-odd miles left before the reach Skwentna. Jeremy has a bit more to go than AJ. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to crash inside or out tonight. He is always prepared to sleep in the dog sled; sleeping inside would be a boon.

I have been checking in in between trying to pack. I haven’t done much about packing till after dinner tonight. I wonder what I will forget. Better go check all my pills and make sure I have enough of them for the trip.

I will check in once more before I hit the sack.

Rebecca and Tupper and Gilly. The moon was beautiful here and I did look out the window while the prayer was being prayed. I hope that counts.

Rio: He will have camped out in much colder temperatures. While he may not always be comfortable, he’ll survive—similar to the difference between you nice warm bed with all your baseball toys and Beau’s cold, hard bed. His gear is made for the arctic.

Hey Rebecca, Speaking of forgetting your pants. Heh
Once I went to a Quilt Retreat with a friend. She drove. After I got there and unpacked my sewing machine and my fabric and my cutting tools and my iron and my special chair and my OTT light.. I discovered…I hadn’t packed ANY CLOTHES. At all. Well I had packed them and they were safely at home.

Mr.Staff very kindly brought them to me. It was only 1-1/2 hours each way. When he came in the door with the bag he was cheered by all the quilters. He has begged my never to do that again.

Snicker

So far I haven’t but once when we moved down to Minneapolis for the winter I forgot every sock.

Mis Rebecca – I am for shure keeping Mr AJ in my thoughts on this cold night. Down here, its cold nuff that we all brought in our brass monkeys. I’hm jist a shiverin in my boots thinkin about them sled dogs of yourn. Thats a powerful strong bunch of fur you got runnin that race. Donchu tell no one, but your racers make our little ole NASCAR boys look like sissies.

Here’s hopin that you and that fine man git home together safe and sound real soon.

Mr. Redbone: It’s nice to see you again tonight. I appreciate your well wishes and your Nascar secret is safe with me. I can’t wait to see AJ again, but I keep telling myself, we’d be apart during the race even if I were in Alaska.

Good to see that our guys are in about the same spot as when I left so they are running steady. AJ about to come into Skwentna with quite a crowd. I show 4 in first place: Lance, Dee Dee Jonrowe, Jake Berkowitz and Ray Redington Jr. I have AJ in 14th and Jeremy in 20th. Jeremy’s marker shows him all alone in the middle of the pack with his nearest competitors either way ahead or way behind him. Hope he and the dogs are enjoying a beautiful, spiritual wilderness adventure.

Hey!
My computer now says that AJ has joined the group that is in first place! Awhoooooo! AJ is in first place!!! With that news I will say good night, Snowhook Bella.
Goodnight Macy MinPin and mom too.

Melanie: Where do you see that he has left the checkpoint? I can’t find anything that shows him leaving.

If the tracker and the race standings don’t match up it could mean several things: the battery is dying, there is a glitch or he placed something over the tracker—the last is very likely. He does this during Iditarod and it drives me mad. Mad, I tell you!

Melanie: I dozed off and on for a couple of hours, but after I resolved that sleep wasn’t going to happen I got up with my stomach in that pesky sailor’s knot. Know that AJ has left the checkpoint, I have found both ends of the knot. I was going to ask if you’re feeling better?

Hi Melanie and Rebecca,
I just decided to check before getting Mom ready for her bath. She is late this week as she usually has it on Saturday but she came out dressed yesterday and refused to start over.
GO AJ and Jeremy!

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